Want to know how to make edible fall leaves to decorate a cake?  It's easy to make stunning, realistic, and completely edible fall leaves using wafer paper and food coloring.

I recently had the opportunity to make two cakes as gifts for some friends.  I don't sell my baked goods, but I do love a good project every once in a while, especially if it means I get to experiment and learn new things!  This time, I figured out how to make edible fall leaves out of wafer paper (buy here [1]).

I'm still working on the textures and bends to the leaves, but I'm still utterly delighted with how they turned out.

You can color the wafer paper [2] before you cut out the shapes, or after.  For larger shapes, I liked coloring the leaves after cutting them out.  

For the very tiny leaves (practically like sprinkles!) I vastly preferred coloring the paper before using the punches to create the leaf shapes [3].

The leaf shapes can be cut either by hand, or by using a cookie cutter.  Dip the cookie cutter in shallow water, and shake off excess.  Place on the wafer paper, and apply pressure evenly, moving the cutter and paper around on a smooth surface.  You can see the technique in the video at the top of the page. 

Not too tricky at all, right?  I also tried tracing around a leaf cookie cutter with a food coloring marker, and cutting out multiple leaves all in a stack at the same time.  I could easily cut four or five leaves at the same time with that technique, and it ended up being my favorite.

Man, I love being given a general theme and given creative control!  

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